1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communication, and in particular, to managing the wireless radio operation in apparatuses that are interacting in a wireless network.
2. Background
Advancements in communication-related technology have helped to proliferate the integration of communication-related functionality in everyday applications. In particular, some ability to interact electronically using wired and/or wireless communication is now expected for many existing and emerging applications. Where wireless communication is being employed, wireless transports may be utilized to send electronic data to multiple destinations. These destinations may reside in different locations, and thus, more than one wireless transport may be employed in a single apparatus in order to address these communication needs. Further, the suppliers and consumers of electronic information may not operate using the same forms of communication, so these apparatuses must be able to change communication configuration in order to support less-flexible applications (e.g., processing, size or power limited apparatuses).
However, while enhanced functionality may be realized through the proliferation of wireless communication, the increasing inclusion of wireless support in different applications will unavoidably result in increased wireless signal traffic. As wireless protocols may operate in the same or similar bandwidths, interference may occur when the protocols operate concurrently. This would especially be the case when transmitters and/or receivers are in close proximity, such as in an apparatus that supports multiple protocols. Moreover, other sources of interference may exist within an operational environment. For example, electromagnetic fields may be generated by electronic apparatuses or power systems. Further, legacy wireless communication signals, such as AM/FM radio and television (TV) broadcast signals, may operate in frequency bands that fall very close to emerging wireless protocols, which may also cause signal interference.
Legacy broadcast signals may be especially problematic when attempting to reuse bandwidth that was traditionally reserved for AM/FM radio and/or TV broadcasts. For example, in the U.S. the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) has decided that TV white space, or the operational frequencies that were previously reserved for TV channels that is not currently in use, is available for unlicensed broadband use. However, operating in these sections of unused TV broadcast spectrum may entail certain requirements and/or impediments. More specifically, in addition to rules prohibiting interference with certain legacy apparatuses that operate within this spectrum, the unlicensed nature of these unused channels means that many apparatuses may be operating in this bandwidth, resulting in potential interference coming from many sources.